Daniel Ricciardo has expressed his delight following the Chinese Grand Prix in which he recorded his best ever finish in Formula One by finishing 7th.

The Toro Rosso driver started the race in P7, and he fought well throughout the race to finish ahead of Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg, ending up only 1.8 seconds behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

“After yesterday afternoon I kept calm, knowing the real work would begin today. The last time I qualified this well was sixth in Bahrain last year and then I failed to score, so today, I really wanted to show people what I could do, so it’s great for me to have had a great race but it’s especially good for the team, who have worked so hard for this.”

Ricciardo does believe that he could have done even better had it not been for a run-in with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg which forced the Toro Rosso into a front wing change.

“The early pit stop to change the nose affected our plans and towards the end, Massa’s Ferrari was looking bigger and bigger ahead of me!

“So yes, maybe I could have done even better, but for now I’ll settle for this seventh place

The result is also Toro Rosso’s best since the 2011 Korean Grand Prix, and if Ricciardo can continue this form, he could be in the running to replace compatriot Mark Webber at Red Bull come the end of the season.